Director of Business Performance & Portfolio Management

Job description

Global University Systems (GUS) is one of the world's leading education groups, bringing together a diverse network of higher education institutions, academic partners and student recruitment organisations across multiple countries. With more than 11,000 colleagues and 36 academic institutions worldwide, we combine global scale with an entrepreneurial mindset, creating opportunities to innovate, grow and make an impact. As an ambitious international organisation, we continue to evolve, invest and expand, giving our people the chance to help shape what comes next and to change lives through education. While our reach is global, much of our success comes from maintaining the agility, pace and hands-on approach of a growing business. We value people who are comfortable navigating change, taking ownership and turning ideas into action in a dynamic and fast-moving environment. If you're looking for a career with challenge, pace, international exposure, genuine ownership and the opportunity to be part of a successful global organisation that's continuing to grow, we'd love to hear from you. We are looking for an exceptional Director of Group Performance Management to build and lead a new Group-wide performance capability. This is a high-impact leadership role at the heart of the business, with a clear mandate to drive stronger financial performance, sharpen accountability and turn insight into action across our international portfolio. Working closely with senior leaders, you will get beneath the numbers to understand what is driving performance, identify where intervention is needed and ensure clear recovery plans are owned and delivered. The role As Director of Group Performance Management, you will: Establish and lead the Group Performance Management capability, including its operating model, governance and ways of working. Develop a consistent Group-wide performance framework, including institutional scorecards, KPIs, performance standards and escalation mechanisms. Lead structured performance reviews with institutional and functional leadership teams. Provide independent, evidence-based challenge, identifying the underlying causes of underperformance rather than focusing solely on reported outcomes. Oversee recovery plans, ensuring actions have clear ownership, milestones and measurable outcomes. Track performance commitments through to delivery and escalate where sufficient progress is not being made. Use cross-institution benchmarking to identify performance gaps, emerging risks and opportunities to share best practice. Provide senior leadership with clear, concise insight into portfolio performance, key risks and areas requiring intervention. Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the organisation while maintaining the independence needed to provide constructive challenge. Build and lead a high-performing performance management team. What we’re looking for You will be an accomplished senior leader with experience in performance management, portfolio operations, commercial finance, value creation, business improvement or operational transformation. You will bring: Significant experience working within a complex, multi-entity or international organisation. A strong track record of identifying and addressing business underperformance. Excellent commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to connect financial results with operational and strategic performance. Experience developing performance frameworks, KPIs, scorecards and executive review processes. The confidence and credibility to constructively challenge CEOs, CFOs and other senior stakeholders. Strong analytical capability and the ability to get beneath headline numbers to understand underlying performance drivers. Experience developing recovery plans and driving actions through to measurable outcomes. Experience building a new function, capability or operating model would be particularly valuable. Experience within private equity portfolio operations, value creation or another highly performance-focused environment would also be advantageous. What we offer: Hybrid working - most roles offer hybrid or flexible arrangements to support work-life balance. Contributory Pension Scheme - 5% personal contribution & 3% Company contribution, so you can build long-term financial security with added benefits of the company contributions. Private Medical Insurance (T&C's apply) - prioritising your wellbeing with speedy access to healthcare whenever you need support. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays - time to rest, recharge, and balance life beyond work. Season Ticket Loan (T&C's apply) - spread the cost of your commute with an interest-free travel loan. Eye Care Vouchers - support for regular eye tests and essential eyewear. Training & Development opportunities (T&C's apply) - access to short courses via FutureLearn and Group-wide professional development programmes. Staff Discount Scheme - via My Rewards Hub, from various retailers – Fashion, Grocery, Health & Beauty, Travel, Automotive, Furniture, Dining, Sports and Leisure, Electronics, etc Employee Assistance Programme - confidential support for your wellbeing, whenever you need it. Refer a Friend Scheme for staff members (T&C's apply) - earn rewards for helping us bring great talent into the team If you feel this is the role you are looking for, please click below to apply for the role! We will screen all applicants and select candidates whose qualifications meet our requirements. We will carefully consider your application during the initial screening and will contact you if you are selected to continue for the next stage of the recruitment process. We wish you every success in your job search. GUS is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion or belief. Our data privacy policy can be viewed here .